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Fifteen (song)
"Fifteen" is a country pop song written and recorded by American singer-songwiter Taylor Swift. It originates from Swift's sophomore studio album, Fearless, which was released on November 11, 2008. "Fifteen" was released as the album's fourth single on October 9, 2009. The ballad was inspired by Swift's freshman year of high school and her best friend, Abigail Anderson. Lyrically, the song is a warning to high school girls to believe in their own potential and avoid placing too much importance on boys. The music video for "Fifteen", directed by Roman White, starred Swift and Anderson as themselves and was heavily accentuated with special effects. The song was a critical success, with reviewers commending its thoughtful and effective lyrics concerning teenage relationships and virginity. "Fifteen" garnered average commercial outcomes for Swift in the United States, where it has thus far peaked at number 38 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "Fifteen" will be released as a single internationally on November 23, 2009. Background "Fifteen" is a ballad written in the key of G major. The song is set in common time with a moderate tempo of 96 beats per minute. Swift's vocals span two octaves, from G3 to C5. For the song's outro, Swift sings several bars of "la la la" and ends the song with "Take a deep breath and you walk through the doors", a version of the opening line. Fifteen is the second track on Fearless and the eighth on the album's re-release, Fearless: Platinum Edition. At six seconds short of five minutes, it is the longest song on the standard edition, and the second longest on the re-release, behind "Untouchable". The lyrics to "Fifteen" were inspired by Swift's eventful freshman year of high school, during which she met Anderson, experienced her first date and first kiss, and supported Anderson through a broken heart. Swift said, "I just decided I really wanted to tell that story about our first year of high school because I felt in my freshman year, I grew up more than any year in my life so far." While writing the lyrics, she began with the line "And Abigail gave everything/She had to a boy/Who changed his mind", which eventually became the song's bridge. "I wrote everything else from that point, almost backwards," said Swift. While Swift has never explicitly explained the line, most critics interpret it to mean that Anderson lost her virginity to a boy who was not truly interested in her. Swift says the song is sung "sort of as advice to another fifteen year old." The highly personal song caused her to cry while recording it. In summer 2008, prior to the release of Fearless and the song, the boy mentioned in "Fifteen" returned to Anderson's life with Swift's help; Swift brought her to a site where the boy stood in the middle of a field, in the middle of a large heart made of candles, holding a bouquet of roses. "It was so romantic," said Swift. Critical reception .]] "Fifteen" enjoyed generally positive critical reception, particularly for its thoughtful lyrics and meaning. Rolling Stone magazine's Jody Rosen wrote that "Swift is a songwriting savant with an intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture" and that "Fifteen" seemed to have been "scientifically engineered in a hit factory — with confessions that are squirmingly intimate and true." Rosen compared Swift's songwriting to the talents of "Swedish pop gods Dr. Luke and Max Martin." James Reed of The Boston Globe wrote that Fearless' "most interesting songs are the ones Swift wrote alone. You can practically see the lyrics for "Fifteen" scribbled in a diary, chronicling Swift's freshman year in high school." Slant Magazine's Jonathon Keefe called the bridge "a great, revealing line about a friend's lost innocence" and considered it one of the nicer moments of the album, but was unimpressed with Swift's singing: "the "la la la" outro to "Fifteen" is just wretched". Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic found "Fifteen" to be the most personable of songs on Fearless, in which Swift seems like "a big sister instead of a big star", and marked it as one of the best tracks from the album. Billboard magazine called it an "insightful" song that would "connect with teens looking for hope and with adult women looking back." The New York Times' Jon Caramanica believed "Fifteen" is "one of the best songs Taylor’s written". Entertainment Weekly reviewer Leah Greenbelt stated, "When she sings about sexuality, she sounds like a real teen, not some manufactured vixen-Lolita". Josh Love of The Village Voice called "Fifteen" the album's "standout" song and found it a refreshing contradiction to typical, idealistic country songs. Rob Sheffield, reviewing for ''Blender'' magazine, said the song was the most mature featured on Fearless. Alexis Petridis of The Guardian called "Fifteen" a "fantasticly good" song that broadened "her potential market from teenage girls to anyone who used to be a teenage girl." Petridis continued, "You applaud her skill, while feeling slightly unsettled by the thought of a teenager pontificating away like Yoda". The United Methodist Church issued a review written by Steve Morley which called the song a "skillful" depiction of the scary transition to high school, with lyrics that offer "a thoughtful warning about the preciousness of virginity." Rolling Stone ranked the song #46 on their annual year end 100 Best Singles list in 2008. Chart performance Due to the release of Fearless, "Fifteen" appeared on the U.S. Hot Digital Songs chart and eventually peaked there at number 15. The song debuted at number 79 on the U.S. singles chart Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending November 29, 2008 due to the album release. "Fifteen" reappeared on the chart for the week ending February 28, 2009, when it reached a peak at number 65. "Fifteen" fell off the chart again the following week and did not appear again until October, when the song was released as a single. For the week ending October 03, 2009, the song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 94. It ascended from 89 to 77 between the week ending October 10, 2009 to October 24, 2009. "Fifteen" rose to number 62 for the week ending November 7, 2009, defeating its previous peak set nine months earlier. The song also appeared on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart, on which it debuted at number 41 for the week ending September 12, 2009 and has thus far peaked at number 9 in the week ending November 14, 2009. On the Canadian Hot 100, the single debuted at number 63 before falling off the chart. It re-entered at number 93 in the week ending October 24, 2009. Following the re-release of Fearless, "Fifteen" rose to 46 the week of November 14, 2009. Combined with "Jump Then Fall", "You Belong with Me", "Untouchable", "The Other Side of the Door", "Superstar", "Come in with the Rain", and "Forever & Always", "Fifteen" helped Swift break the record for the highest number of charting Hot 100 songs for any female artist in history. When the song reached #38 on the chart week of November 21, 2009, it became her thirteenth Top 40 single from Fearless, further extending the record for the most top 40 hits from one album. Rihanna's 'Roulette' Lands In Hot 100's Top 10 @15 Swift partnered with electronics retailer Best Buy for @15, a program that allows teens to help decide how Best Buy's "@15 Fund" will be distributed among various charities. Swift taped a Public Service Announcement, called a "Teen Service Annoucement" by Best Buy, for @15. Within the PSA, which was released on on February 9, 2009, scenes of Swift encouraging reminiscing on high school and encouraging originality and uniqueness were intercut with scenes of her singing "Fifteen". In June 2009, @15 became a partner for Swift's Fearless Tour. The Swift's PSA was shown at each North American stop of the tour. At 15 stops, @15 donated 40 concert tickets and a guitar autographed by Swift to local teen-focused charity groups, such as chapters of Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Big Brothers Big Sisters. Music video The music video for "Fifteen" was directed by Roman White, who had previously directed the music video for Swift's "You Belong With Me". White began with the intention of making the video distinct from anything Swift had done before and taking the video "outside of high school" He explained the concept to CMT: The video was shot using a green screen. Elaborate special effects, such as the animated flowers, were then digitally added. The video stars Swift and Anderson as themselves. The only part odf the video that was filmed on location, was the ending. It was shot at Hume-Fogg High School. The video begins with Swift, barefoot and clad in a little white dress, approaching a tall, arched doorway which materializes in the middle of a barren landscape. Swift looks at a photograph of herself and Anderson tucked into the arch and then passes through the doors. On the other side of the arch, animated flowers and vines grow across the scenes. People and objects from Swift's high school fade in and out of view, creating a surreal montage of scenes from Swift's freshman year. Swift walks through the memories and begins to play her guitar beneath a tree. The video transitions to Abigail sitting at a desk before a chalkboard in the field of flowers. Swift sits down beside her and two begin to whisper and laugh to each other. In the next scene, Swift plays her guitar while Anderson goes on her first date. Anderson kisses her date, but pushes him away when he tries to go further. The boy, his car, and the animated background dissolve to Abigail sitting alone on a stone bench. Swift approaches her and hugs her tightly as the field around them turns dark and stormy. The video then alternates between Swift singing in the rain and hugging her friend. Abruptly, the storm clouds merge over the scene, clearing to reveal the tops of several dark grey umbrellas. Swift finds herself in the real world, wearing a black rain coat and standing in the rain across the street from a high school. With a look of concern, she watches a fifteen year old about to enter her own freshman year speaking to her friend outside the school. Swift tells CMT that the song "is kind of sung as advice to ...the fifteen year old." The music video premiered on October 7, 2009 through Country Music Television. It first became available for streaming on its website, CMT.com, at 7:00 AM EST. The video then premiered on television the same day within a 90 minute special titled CMT Fifteen Swiftly-Made Videos which aired at 8 AM EST on CMT. Live performances .]] Swift selected "Fifteen" to perform at the 51st Grammy Awards, where she sang it as a duet with Miley Cyrus. The act was first announced through Ryan Seacrest's Twitter. Swift and Cyrus' performance began at 8:53 P.M. on February 8, 2009, shortly after the announcement of Song of the Year. The duo sat on simple bar stools for the acoustic performance with Swift, wearing a baggy white dress layered over a tight black outfit, playing the guitar. "Fifteen" is featured in the set list of Swift's Fearless Tour, which commenced on April 23, 2009, and is expected to last until June 2, 2010. During the tour performances, Swift walks into the audience to play the guitar and sing the song acousticly atop a platform positioned in the midst of the crowd. She performs in a short pastel colored dress and cowboy boots. After finishing, Swift hugs the fans closest to the platform before beginning "Tim McGraw". On October 13, 2009, Swift played the guitar and sang "Fifteen" at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tennessee for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum benefit concert, "We’re All For The Hall". She wore a wearing a glittery belted purple dress and was accompanied by three harmony singers. Charts and peaks References External links "Fifteen" lyrics hosted by MTV "Fifteen" music video hosted by CMT "Fifteen" at @15 Category:2009 singles Category:Country ballads Category:Music videos directed by Roman White Category:Taylor Swift songs Category:Songs written by Taylor Swift pt:Fifteen uk:Fifteen